Naperville Mayor George Pradel: 'It was about the people'

Lane Christiansen / Chicago Tribune

Naperville Mayor George Pradel, in a photo from 2009, speaks at an event celebrating the completion of the Eola Road interchange off Interstate 88 as U.S. Rep. Bill Foster, from left, Michael King, of the Illinois Tollway, and Tom Weisner, then-mayor of Aurora, stand behind him.

Naperville Mayor George Pradel, in a photo from 2009, speaks at an event celebrating the completion of the Eola Road interchange off Interstate 88 as U.S. Rep. Bill Foster, from left, Michael King, of the Illinois Tollway, and Tom Weisner, then-mayor of Aurora, stand behind him. (Lane Christiansen / Chicago Tribune)

For more than 20 years, George Pradel was not only the mayor of Naperville, he was its face.

And what a face it was. Warm. Inviting. Caring. Jovial. Friendly.

Which all makes sense when you consider Pradel’s nickname as a Naperville police officer in his pre-mayoral days was “Officer Friendly.”

The news of the popular mayor’s illness and subsequent death on Tuesday — a day short of his 81st birthday — came as something of a surprise. But not surprising was the outpouring of love and admiration for him after we learned he had been recently diagnosed with a cancerous tumor and was in hospice.

It’s not just Naperville residents who know they have lost someone special.

“He had an outsized personality with so much energy and verve,” former Aurora Mayor Tom Weisner said. “As a mayor, I’d say he was unique, really.”

Weisner should know: Almost all of his nearly 12-year tenure leading neighboring Aurora was during Pradel’s 20-year-reign next door. So the two of them not only developed a close professional relationship but were friends — and at times, friendly rivals.

George Pradel, Naperville's longest-serving mayor, died Sept. 4, 2018, at the age of 80.

When I talked to him Tuesday morning, not long after hearing of Pradel’s death, Weisner was in Chicago attending a meeting of the Metropolitan Planning Council, where as a senior fellow he works with leadership from myriad communities. So, yes, Weisner knows as much as anyone about how a mayor must be a cheerleader for the community.

But George Pradel? He was in a class by himself.

It really was not about the politics or the power or even the celebrity … despite the fact Naperville’s longest-serving mayor was so popular that a city statue and even a bobblehead were created in his honor.

“It was about the people,” Weisner said. “He just enjoyed being in their presence.”

And he had a youthful eagerness and energy, which is likely one reason he connected so well with children.

And why he cared so deeply for them.

That wasn’t just evident in the Safety Town he helped create with the Naperville Police Department to teach kids about safety procedures. Those who knew him far better than most say he often would reach out to kids truly in need, even bring them home for dinner with wife Pat because that’s just simply how big his heart was.

“He always tried to be inspiring and encourage people of all ages to be and do their very best,” Weisner recalled. “He really did have a very positive attitude.”

In a news release on Tuesday, Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin, a three-term Aurora alderman before succeeding Weisner, described it as “a laugh that could fill the room.”

And there will be a “void in leadership and laughter,” said Irvin, who went on to note Pradel was not only a personal friend but a professional mentor.

“He raised the bar time and time again,” Irvin said, “and set a high standard for municipal leadership.”

For politicians in general, I might add.

Pradel, who put in 29 years with the Naperville police, never wanted to run for office but was convinced to do so by those who saw a charismatic personality coupled with a genuine humbleness and passion for his community and its residents.

He went on to easily win his first election in 1995; and continued to do so until he decided to step down in 2015. An editorial on his passing in the Naperville Sun said it beautifully: “What he initially lacked in government expertise and political savvy, he made up for in a can-do spirit that Naperville residents responded to and embraced.”

It went on to say, “If his failure to play the political game meant he was more reactive than proactive as a leader, his constituents seemed to have no problem with that and the city thrived rather than suffered.”

And thrive it did. Pradel was rightly proud of the Naperville he lived in since he was a toddler and had such a huge hand in helping to grow.

The feeling was mutual.

“George Pradel was the kind of community-focused individual that blesses a town once in a lifetime,” Naperville Mayor Steve Chirico said in a Tuesday news release.

“George was the perfect mayor for Naperville,” Weisner told me. “I hate to see him go.”

Indeed, that contagious smile will be sorely missed, as will a laugh that could fill a room; and a voice that people said needed no microphone when it came to cheering for his beloved town.

Officer Friendly may have become the face of Naperville. But it is his heart that will define his legacy.